The non-franchised retailer proves more convincingly than most other dealers that there are plenty of customers able and willing to buy delivery-mileage cars - but only on condition that they are priced appropriately.

What's appropriate? Some manufacturer price lists read like fiction. Switched-on retailers who know their savvy customers and are brave enough to pile high and sell cheap are chopping those over-optimistic, published prices by between about 10 and 40 per cent.

That's the sort of discount you should be aiming for when shopping for a delivery mileage-only vehicle built by a mainstream producer who has too many cars, but not enough customers. And that's just about every one of them.

* It's not just some unused cars that are going cheap. Despite reports of a shortage of good used models, Carsite said in the last few days that it has been selling pre-owned vehicles for substantially less than the prices quoted in motor trade guides.

For example, a 2006,16,000-mile Mercedes A150 Classic SE with what's described as a "Recommended Industry Retail Price" of £9,350, was up for £6,930 from Carsite (a saving of 35 per cent over identical Mercs of similar age).

Other examples are a 2006, 34,000-mile Vauxhall Zafira 1.8i Life at £6,195 (28 per cent saved) and a 2006, 24,000 mile Ford Focus 2.0 Ghia at £6,499 (25 per cent).

* There are many surveys showing which makes and models appeal most to private motorists. But what about company car drivers?

According to a survey by Fleet News, covering 840,000 cars, the number one manufacturer for reliability is BMW, followed by Honda, Audi, Toyota, Volkswagen, Mercedes, Ford, Mazda, Nissan and Skoda.

* I find this hard to believe, but Moneysupermarket.com insists that men spend, on average, 71 per cent more on car insurance than women.

I'm not suggesting that male motorists try anything illegal. But if, for example, a couple share a car 50/50, it might be financially beneficial to insure it in the wife's name with the man as the second named driver. And why not?

* The Government has just released an extraordinary claim: "With personal car travel the single biggest source of personal C02 emissions in the UK, what can we as individuals do about it?"

How about challenging that assertion, for starters? The same Government formally admits that the "top" sources of personal CO2 emissions come from domestic boilers/heaters/fires, which account for 36.8 per cent of the CO2 we personally emit. Next, it says, are cars (26.1 per cent), then personal flights (14 per cent).